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Gustave Huberdeau
Gustave Huberdeau (10 May 1874 – 31 May 1945) was a French operatic bass-baritone who had a prolific career in Europe and the United States during the first quarter of the twentieth century. He sang a wide repertoire encompassing material from French composers like Gounod and Massenet to the Italian grand operas of Verdi, the verismo operas of Mascagni, and the German operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. He sang in numerous premieres during his 30-year career, including the original production of Puccini's ''La rondine'' in 1917. Although possessing a rich and warm voice, Huberdeau had a talent for comedic portrayals which made him a favorite casting choice in secondary comedic roles as well as leading roles.J.B. Steane, ''Grove Music Online'' After retiring from opera in 1927, Huberdeau remained active as a performer in stage plays and in French cinema throughout the 1930s. Opera career Huberdeau was born in Paris, studied at the Paris Conservatoire and then made hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louise (opera)
''Louise'' is a “musical novel,” or “,” in four acts and five scenes by Gustave Charpentier. It can be considered an opera. The composer himself penned the French libretto with contributions from Saint-Pol-Roux, a symbolist poet and inspiration of the surrealists. It is an atmospheric story of working-class life in Paris, with the city itself invoked along the way: young Louise, a seamstress living with her parents, loves Julien, an artist; she desires freedom, associated in her mind with him and the city. (Charpentier would later write a sequel, the opera ''Julien'', describing the artist's aspirations.) Musically the work is ''verismo'', it marks the beginning of naturalism in French opera. Performance history ''Louise'' was premiered on 2 February 1900 at the Salle Favart by the Opéra-Comique conducted by André Messager in a production by Albert Carré. It was successful, reaching its 100th performance just over a year later; the 500th performance at the Opéra-Comiqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel, began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there. The current building is the third theatre on the site, following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856 to previous buildings. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The main auditorium seats 2,256 people, mak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natoma (opera)
''Natoma'' is a 1911 opera with music by Victor Herbert, famous for his operettas, and libretto by Joseph D. Redding. It is a serious full-scale grand opera set in Santa Barbara, California in the "Spanish days" of 1820; the story and music are colored by "Indian" (Native American) and Spanish themes. It premiered in Philadelphia at the Metropolitan Opera House on February 25, 1911 "American Opera, 'Natoma', Produced. Victor Herbert and Joseph D. Redding's Work Greeted by Big Audience in Philadelphia. Furore after First Act. Highly Colored Climaxes, but Opera Suffers from Amateurish Libretto—Conclusion is Conventional" ''The New York Times,'' February 26, 1911, p. 8 and was later mounted at the New York Metropolitan Opera House on February 28, 1911. "'Natoma' Greeted By Great Audience," ''The New York Times,'' March 1, 1911, p. 8 Herbert stated that "I have tried to imitate Indian music. But I have used no special Indian theme. Indian themes are all very short and unharm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Der Kuhreigen
''Der Kuhreigen'' (; "The Cow Round") is an opera or musical play in three acts by the Austrian composer Wilhelm Kienzl. The libretto, by Richard Batka, is after Rudolf Hans Bartsch's novel ''Die kleine Blanchefleur''. It was first performed at the Volksoper in Vienna on 23 November 1911. Roles Synopsis Set in revolutionary France, this is the love story of the Swiss Sergeant Primus Thaller, condemned for singing the banned Swiss 'Kuhreigen' folksong, and Blanchefleur, wife of the Marquis Massimelle, who saves him and then herself becomes a victim of the revolution. Recordings March 27, 1952, Conductor: Wilhelm Loibner; Walter Berry, Otto Wiener, Anny Felbermayer, Leo Heppe, Dagmar Hermann, Fritz Sperlbauer, Erich Kaufmann, Josef Knapp, and Ruthilde Boesch. Tonkünstlerchor und Großes Orchester der RAVAG, Wien, 1951. MYTO Historical Line 2CD 00275 Richard Tauber, who was a favorite of the composer, recorded the two main tenor arias twice for Odeon Records Odeon Recor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago Grand Opera Company
Two grand opera companies in Chicago, Illinois, have gone by the name Chicago Grand Opera Company during the first half of the 20th century. Like many opera ventures in Chicago, both succumbed to financial difficulties within a few years, and it wasn't until 1954 that a lasting company was formed in the city. First company, 1910–14 The first Chicago Grand Opera Company produced four seasons of opera in Chicago's Auditorium Theater from the fall of 1910 through January 1914. It was the first resident Chicago opera company, and was formed mostly from an arrangement by the directors of the New York Metropolitan Opera Company (at "the Old Met" on 39th Street) to acquire the assets of Oscar Hammerstein's dissolved Manhattan Opera Company. Background Hammerstein had been producing opera in competition with the Met for a number of years. His opposition, and difficulties arising from its own management disagreements cost the Metropolitan a deficit of close to $300,000 for the 190 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philadelphia Opera Company
The Philadelphia Opera Company was the name of two different American opera companies active during the twentieth century in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first company was founded by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I in 1908. That company disbanded only two years later as a result of financial problems. The second company was founded by conductor Sylvan Levin in 1938 and was active for six years before it too closed due to financial reasons in 1944. Hammerstein's Philadelphia Opera Company: 1908-1910 In 1907 Oscar Hammerstein I hired architect William H. McElfatrick of the firm J.B. McElfatrick & Son to design a new opera house for the city of Philadelphia. The plans were approved and in 1908 the Philadelphia Opera House was built over the course of just a few months at 858 North Broad Street. The structure was built specifically for Hammerstein's latest artistic venture, his new opera company, the Philadelphia Opera Company (POC). Notable singers to have performed with the POC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elektra (opera)
''Elektra'', Opus number, Op. 58, is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama ''Elektra''. The opera was the first of many collaborations between Strauss and Hofmannsthal. It was first performed at the Semperoper, Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden on 25 January 1909. It was dedicated to his friends Natalie and Willy Levin. History While based on ancient Greek mythology and Sophocles' tragedy ''Electra (Sophocles play), Electra'', the opera is highly Modernism, modernist and Expressionist music, expressionist in style. Hofmannsthal's and Strauss's adaptation of the story focuses tightly on Electra, Elektra, thoroughly developing her character by single-mindedly expressing her emotions and psychology as she meets with other characters, mostly one at a time. (The order of these conversations closely follows Sophocles' play.) The other characters are Clytemnestra, Klytaemnestra, her mother and o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manhattan Opera Company
The Manhattan Opera Company was an opera company based in New York City. Active from 1906 until 1910, it was founded by Oscar Hammerstein I. History The company began operations in 1906 at the Manhattan Opera House on 34th Street in New York City. Hammerstein built the house with the initial intent of making it a home for performances solely of opera in English; before construction was completed, however, he chose to shift the company's focus, deciding instead to present great operas in their original languages. The casts were to be drawn from the ranks of the greatest singers of the era. William Guard was hired to be the company's press representative, remaining in that capacity until the organization folded. The Manhattan Opera Company opened its first season on December 3, 1906, with a performance of Vincenzo Bellini's ''Norma''; Cleofonte Campanini served as the artistic director. Many of the greatest opera stars of the era appeared with the company during its four-year h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Hammerstein I
Oscar Hammerstein I (8 May 18461 August 1919) was a German-born businessman, theater impresario, and composer in New York City. His passion for opera led him to open several opera houses, and he rekindled opera's popularity in America. He was the grandfather of American playwright/lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II and the father of theater manager William Hammerstein and American producer Arthur Hammerstein. Early life Oscar Hammerstein I was born in Stettin (capital of the province of Pomerania), Kingdom of Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland), to German Jewish parents Abraham and Berthe Hammerstein. He took up the flute, piano, and violin at an early age. His mother died when he was fifteen years old. During his youth, Hammerstein's father wanted him to continue with his education and to specialize in subjects such as algebra, but Hammerstein wanted to pursue music. After Oscar went skating in a park one day, his father found out and whipped him as punishment, goading Hammerstein to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortunio (opera)
''Fortunio'' is a comédie lyrique or opera in four acts (originally five) and five tableaux by the French composer André Messager. The libretto by Gaston Arman de Caillavet and Robert de Flers is based on Alfred de Musset's 1835 comedy ''Le Chandelier''. It was first performed by the Opéra-Comique at the Salle Favart in Paris, on 5 June 1907, and remained part of the regular repertory until the 1940s. In recent years it has been revived in several productions in France and other countries. The opera has no spoken dialogue and comprises completely sung recitative and arias. Fortunio, clerk to the lawyer Maître André, becomes the decoy for an affair between Jacqueline – the lawyer's wife – and Clavaroche, an army officer, Fortunio falls in love with Jacqueline before discovering what is going on between her and the officer. Eventually she falls for Fortunio's innocent charm and sends Clavaroche away. Background Alfred de Musset's play ''Le Chandelier'' was published in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri Rabaud
Henri Benjamin Rabaud (10 November 187311 September 1949) was a French conductor, composer and pedagogue, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of the twentieth century.Girardot A. Henri Rabaud. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.Landormy P. ''La Musique Française après Debussy.'' Gallimard, Paris, 1943. Life and career Rabaud came from a musical background. He was the son of a cellist Hippolyte Rabaud (1839–1900), professor of cello at the Paris Conservatoire, while his mother was a singer who almost created the role of Marguérite at the request of Charles Gounod. His maternal grandfather was a well-known flautist, while his great aunt was Julie Dorus-Gras. Henri studied at the Conservatoire with André Gedalge and Jules Massenet. In 1908, he became a conductor at the Paris Opéra-Comique where he later conducted the 100th perf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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